Chronobiology
Author: Micaela Rodríguez Caron | email: mmicarodrigueez@gmail.com
Micaela Rodríguez Caron 1°, María Fernanda Ceriani 1°
1° Laboratorio Genética del Comportamiento – Fundación Instituto Leloir – Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires (CONICET)
Daily rhythms in animal physiology are typically coordinated by a central pacemaker located within the brain, which operates on the basis of transcriptional/translational feedback loops as well as posttranslational control mechanisms involving a dozen of so-called clock genes. In Drosophila melanogaster, clock genes are expressed in 150 neurons that are organized in 7 functional groups. Under constant conditions, circadian activity depends strongly on the small lateral ventral neurons (sLNvs). Along with the large lateral ventral neurons (lLNvs), sLNvs express the PDF neuropeptide, which is essential for synchronizing the circadian network. Despite PDF immunoreactivity cycles along the day, pdf expression does not appear to be circadianly regulated. Moreover, the understanding of the mechanisms that regulate its transport, processing, accumulation or release is limited. We are exploring different strategies to dissect the nature of those cyclical changes in PDF abundance at the dorsal protocerebrum. As PDF is synthesized as part of a larger precursor, which upon cleavage releases the mature form, one of our strategies is to identify the protease/s involved in propeptide processing. For this purpose, we are screening for relevant proteases through interference RNA expression to assess their impact on the daily activity patterns and peptide availability.